VARIATION IN THE NUMBER OF RAY-FLOWERS 
IN THE WHITE DAISY. 
Feo Cu LUCAS. 
[THE following fragmentary observation of Mr. Lucas is of 
importance because of its relation to the extended series of 
enumerations of the ray-flowers of the white daisy (Chrysanthe- 
mum lucanthemum) of Europe, which has lately been made by 
Prof. F. Ludwig, of Greiz, and published in the Botanisches 
Centralblatt. Ludwig finds that the commonest number, the 
mode, is 21. There are, however, several secondary maxima, 
which with the principal mode constitute the series 8, 13, 21, 
34 —the series of Fibonacci. The counts of Mr. Lucas are 
interesting in that, first, the mode in the number of ray- 
flowers is different for two localities, and, secondly, while one 
of these modes (21) falls in the Fibonacci series, the other (22) 
has no relation to it. The secondary maximum, which in both 
curves is found at 29, is likewise not in accord with Ludwig’s 
law. These simply made observations, then, raise the ques- 
tions whether the mode of a varying organ may not vary 
decidedly in different localities, and whether Ludwig’s law will, 
even with an indefinitely large number of counts, hold for the 
white daisy as we find it in America. Eb.] 
During the latter part of my vacation in the summer of 
1897, I was in Nova Scotia, and, abundant material being at 
hand, I thought I would see if I could verify the law of varia- 
tion in the ray-flowers of the common ox-eye daisy. I managed 
in the short time at my disposal to count about 500 specimens 
from the regions of Yarmouth and Grand Pic. I thought to 
count enough more when I returned to the States to bring up 
my total to one thousand. I was much surprised to find, how- 
ever, for reasons which will appear later, that the flowers of the 
two regions could not be included in one lot. The specimens 
counted in the States came from Milton and Cambridge, Mass., 
and were 324 in number. 
